Double hypodermic needle type pilot burner



April 19, 1960 L. F. VIXLER DOUBLE HYPODERMIC NEEDLE TYPE PILOT BURNERFiled 001,. 27, 1955 [NV EN TOR. 5.52 /5 1'? Wu 6/? BY 4mm 6 TI'ORNEYDOUBLE HYPODERMIC NEEDLE TYPE PILOT BURNER Leslie F. Vixler, RockyRiver, Ohio, assignor to The Patrol Valve Company, Cleveland, OhioApplication October 27, 1955, Serial No. 543,101 '5 Claims. (Cl.158-115) This invention relates to lighters for .gas burners, such asare used on gas cooking ranges or other gaseous fuel appliances, morespecifically it relates to automatic lighters, employing a low-inputconstantly-burning pilot burner adapted to be used independently of, orin conjunction with a flash tube construction, for causing the ignitionof a fuel burner, in a well known manner.

This invention relates to a low-input pilot burner employing anhypodermic needle of the general type of pilot burner disclosed in myco-pending application, Serial No. 524,966, filed July 28, 1955.

The problem in providing low-input pilot burners operating-on a B.t.u.input rating within the range of 50 to 100 B.t.u. per hour, or less, isto provide a stable pilot burner, either when disposed adjacent rangeburners for direct burner ignition, or when disposed at a distance fromrange burners and connected therewith by flash mechanisms which produceconcussion waves in the flash tubes having a tendency to pull out orextinguish the pilot flame.

I have discovered that by using two hypodermicneedle type pilot burners,disposed as disclosed herein,

providing impinging flames, used independently of orin conjunction witha flame stabilizing wire, an exceptionally :stable pilot flame isproduced, which is stable and sub- Estantiall-y unafifected by theconcussion waves .and drafts :inherent in flash tube mechanism operatingfrom a central pilot burner.

Therefore, an object of this invention is to provide 'Gther objects'ofthe invention are to provide a low input pilot burner, adapted to bemanufactured at a relatively low cost, which m be used with varioustypes "of ga'sesand'burners, and which may be readily installed andremoved, and which is simple and reliable in oper- These and other"objects will be apparent during the course of the followingspecification.

"In the drawings forming a part of this specification:

Fig. l is atop view of a gas cooking range with ',parts brokenaway,illustrating a centrally disposed pilot burner;

Fig. 2 is a side view of a range burner and my pilot burner disposed inclose proximity to the range burner for direct burner ignition;

Fig. '3 'is an enlarged broken sectional view of the pilot burner shownin Fig. 2, drawn to a larger scale; Fig. 4 illustrates a range burner, amodified form of 'pilotburn'e'r' disposed at ,sonie'distance from therange burner, and associated flash tube mechanism;

Fig. 5 *is'an enlarged broken sectional view of the -pilot burner shownFig. 4, while atent 3.11%

'23 with the tapered surfaces other.

Fig. 5a illustrates a central header used with the form "of inventionillustrated in Fig. 2.

In the drawings the numeral 10 refers to the top plate of a gaseous fuelcooking range, showing a centrally disposed pilot burner and havingsuitable apertures for accommodating a plurality of range burners 11,supplied with fuel from a supply pipe or manifold 12 through Bunsentubes 1d, the flow of gas from the manifold 12 being controlled byindividual valves 14, in a well known manner. A pilot burner may bedisposed in close proximity to each range burner for direct ignitionaction, as illustrated in Fig. 2, or it may be centrally disposedbetween the range burners and operatively connected to the individualrange burners by flash mechanism as illustrated in Fig. 4. I

The pilot burner 15 illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3 comprises two parallelthin elongated pilot burner tubes 16 in the general form of hypodermicneedles, preferably made from hypodermic needle tubing, and suitablyfabricated from a ferritic type of stainless steel, the sizes generallyused being in the range of 16 gauge (.065" OD. x .099" wall) to 26 gauge(.013" OD. x .04" wall). The inner ends of each pair of pilot burnertubes 16 are disposed at the end of a pilot gas tube 17 receiving gasfrom a central header 18, suitably sup ported centrally of the range top11, and supplied with fuel through tube-19 from the gas manifold 12,while a regulating valve 20 controls the flow of gas from the manifold12 to the supply tube 19. A retaining nut -21'-forms1a closure orsupportmember internally threaded at its lower end, where it is mounted oncooperating threads on thewend of gas supply tube 17, and is providedwith two vertical bores 21a receiving the inner ends of pilot burnertubes 16, and retains them in fixed position. A small verticallyextending nichrome flame stabilizing wire 22, usually having a diameterof .013" to .030", is disposed between each pair of pilot burner tubes16 and is axially aligned with the axis of the pilot gas tube 17. Theouter ends of the vpilot burner tubes or needles 16 are inwardly taperedas indicated at disposed. opposite each The foregoing structure isadapted to directly ignite range burner 11 without the use of flash tubemechanism, said burners 11 being mounted on the end of Bunsen tubes '13and retained thereon by a bayonet locking means 26. A tower or stack 27,is provided for to the burner ports 25, thestack 27 being provided withrange burner to the central pilot burners.

and an ignition port 33 intermediate to the top and bottom of the stack27, the flow of gas from the Bunsen tube 13 to the tower 27 beingthrough extension tube 30.

Figs. 1 and 4 iliustratethe use of my double hypodermic needle type ofpilot burner at considerable distance from the range burners, usuallyone constantly burning pilot burner being disposed centrally of therange top, while flash tube mechanism operatively connects each My pilotburner is especially useful for this type of flash tube ignition, from acentral pilot, as its flame stability is such, that normally it isvirtually unaffected by the flash or concussion of the ignition.

In this form of the invention 1 illustratesimiiarrange burners 11,having ports 25, secured to the'end'of Bunsen retainedina pilot bumerhousing 24, as s'hownin Pig.

4. In this embodiment of the invention the hypodermic pilot burner 15a,suitably supported and disposed centrally of the range top 11, comprisestwo hypodermic needles 16a receiving gas through "pilot tube 19 andhaving their outer ends reversely bent and disposed towards each other,while a flame stabilizing wire 22a, disposed between each pair of pilotburner needles 16a, provides a feature, whereby once the pilot burner islighted, the wire 22a glows red, serving as a readily discernible meansindicating that the burner is ignited, and also assures rapid ignitionof the cold gases as they emerge from the pilot burner, thus enablingthe pilot to operate on a substantially lower B.t.u. input thanotherwise wouldbe possible.

For certain uses it may not be necessary to use the flame stabilizingwire 22a and such construction is within the contemplated scope of myinvention. The disposition and arrangement of the pilot burners 16 and16a is i such, that a single flame is produced by the coalescing of thetwo flames at each pair of hypodermic needle ends, forming a relativelyflat flame pattern indicated by the letter F in the drawing.

When the pilot burner 15 is located adjacent the range burner 11, asshown in Figs'. 2 and 3, upon operating a valve 14, gas passes throughan associated Bunsen tube 13 to a cooperating range burner 11, while asmall volume of such" gas passing through extension tube 30, be-

' comes ignited at the ignition port,33 by the flame at.

the pilot burner 15, the flash flame then travels up the flash slot 28to the flash tip 29 disposed in close proximity to the main burner 11,and ignites it, as is well known in the art.

The operation of the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figs. 4and 5 is quite similar to that described for Figs. 2 and 3, except thatflash tube mechanism 32 is interposed between the tower 27 and the pilotburner 15a, to conduct the raw gas from the Bunsen tube 13 to the pilotburner 15a, where it is ignited by the nism.

It is believed that by using two or more small pilot burner tubes,positioned and arranged in such manner that the resultant flames impingeone upon the other, a verystable flame is produced, due to thestabilizing influence of one flame on the other. By adding a flamestabilizing wire between the two flames, a-filament type of pilot burneris produced. Once the pilot burners are ignited, the flame stabilizingwire glows red, thus providing means for rapid ignition of the coolgases as they emerge from the pilot burner.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the presentembodiment of the invention is illustrative only and that the inventionmay be variously changed, used or modified without departing from thespirit of the invention or sacrificing the advantages thereof.

I claim:

1. A pilot lighter device comprising, a pair of spaced verticallyextending gas tubes disposed in parallel relation to each other andfluidly connected to a source of gas at their lower ends, said tubesbeing formed of relatively thin-wall tubing having an outside diameterapproximately within the range of .065" to .018, having an insidediameter approximately within the range of .047" to ..010" and havingfine upwardly directed axial ports at their upper ends, said tubes beingseparated -a downwardly projecting portion, spaced at relatively by adistance approximating three times the diameter of said tubes.

2. A pilot lighter device comprising, a pair of spaced verticallyextending gas tubes disposed in parallel relation to each other,separated by a distance corresponding to three times the outsidediameter of said tubes and fluidly connected to a source 'of gas attheir lower ends, said tubes being formed of relatively thin-walltnbinghaving an outside diameter approximately within the range of .065" to.018", having an inside diameter approximately within the range of .047"to .010" and having fine upwardly directed axial ports at their upperends, and an upwardly projecting flame stabilizing wire having adiameter within the range of .013" to .030" disposed midway between saidtubes, disposed in the same plane thereof and extending to at least thetop margins of said tubes but not more than six times the outsidediameter of the tubes above that margin, thereby providing a' singleflame surrounding said wire and ports.

3.'A pilot burner device comprising, a plurality of spaced verticallyextending gas supply tubes having inside and outside diameters as statedin claim 2 disposed in parallel relation to each other, said tubes beingin fluid communication with a gas supply at their lower ends, the upperend portion of each tube being bent over forming short distance fromeach vertical tube portion and extending downwardly therefrom arelatively short distance in parallel relation thereto, said bent overportions being directed toward each other and provided with relativelysmall diameter downwardly-directed burner ports at their lower ends, thedistance between said burner ports being such that a single low-inputstabilized flame is produced around said ports and the areatherebetween.

4. A pilot burner device comprising, a pair of vertically projectingparallel disposed gas supply tubes of uniform diameter, having anoutside diameter substantially within the range of .065" to .018 andhaving an inside diameter approximately within the range of .047" to.010, connected to a source of gas at their lower ends, said tubes beingspaced apart a distance corresponding to six to eight times the diameterof said tubes, the upper end portion of each tube being bent overforming a downwardly projecting portion spaced from the vertical tubeportion by a distance corresponding approximately to twicethe diameterof the tube, said downwardly projecting portion extending downwardlyfrom the top' portion of the tube in parallel relation thereto adistance corresponding to approximately two to three times the diameterof said tube, said bent over portions being directed toward each other,and provided with fine downwardly-directed burner ports at their lowerends, for the purposes described.

5. A pilot burner device comprising, a pair of vertically projectingparallel disposed gas supply tubes, having an outside diametersubstantially within the range of ,.065" to .018 and having an insidediameter approximately within the range of .047" to .010, connected to asource of gas at their lower ends, said tubes being spaced apart adistance corresponding to six to eight times the diameter of said tubes,the upper'end portion of each tube being bent over forming a downwardlyprojecting portion spaced from the vertical tube portion by "a distancecorresponding approximately to twice the diameter of the tube, saiddownwardly projecting portion extending downwardly from the top portionof the tube in parallel relation thereto, a distance corresponding toapproximately two to three times the diameter of said tube, said bentover portions being directed toward each other and disposed in the sameplane, and provided with fine downwardlydirected burner ports at theirlower ends, and an upwardly projecting flame stabilizing wire, having a]diameter within the range of .013" to .030" disposed midwaybetween saidpair of tubes in parallel relation thereto and extending at least to thetop portions of said tubes, whereby a single r 5 6 stabilized low-inputflame is produced surrounding said 1,198,006 Chance Sept. 12, 1916 wireand said tube ports. 2,143,841 Byrne J an. 17, 1939 2,319,676 GuelsonMay 18, 1943 References Cited in the file of this patent 2,379,5 4Hobson July 3, 1945 5 2,470,881 Zimbelman May 24, 1949 UNITED STATESPATENTS 84,768 Russel Dec. 8, 1868 FOREIGN PATENTS 266,888 Requa Oct.31, 1882 266,939 Germany Nov. 4, 1913

